Seoul has accused Pyongyang of duplicity by strengthening its military posture this weekend even as negotiators from the two Koreas try to reverse a rise in tensions.
Senior officials on Sunday afternoon resumed bilateral talks that ran late into Saturday night without agreement, and which were prompted by a rare exchange of artillery fire this week.
But as Sunday’s meeting got under way, South Korea’s defence ministry accused Pyongyang of showing “two faces” by deploying additional military assets over the weekend. It said North Korea had raised its frontline artillery assets to double the normal level and that 70 per cent its submarines were away from their bases.